Scott Hallman » Uncategorized

Do You Need A Bird Dog?

Scott Hallman — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:08:53 +0000

Part 1

Here’s an interesting question. What % of potential deals do you know about?

Regardless of what method you use to generate leads, many of your target prospects still don’t know about you or the products or services you sell.

Therefore, a great OPTIMIZATION opportunity is to identify ways to get the attention of more of your qualified prospects so that you get the opportunity to “be in the game” when they are ready to buy. For many businesses this simple shift alone will certainly increase the number of new clients, customers, patients or members that do business with you.

In the first part of this series, I WILL focus on businesses that utilize a direct sales force, whether in person or over the phone.

Often the sales representatives, as well as the business in general, rely on their warm network to learn about potential opportunities. And this is a highly effective method for ensuring that you are invited to the party when there’s a potential purchase opportunity available.

However, it often leads to missing out on a number of, potentially significant number of, potential deals they would been involved in if they merely knew about the potential buying opportunity.

As an example, a Soils Remediation client of ours has an incredible reputation and a very high closing rate when they’re invited to the GAME. Their average job can range from $50,000 to well over $1 million. That’s great news. The bad news, and therefore the opportunity to OPTIMIZE, is that they know about less than 10% of the jobs awarded in advance of the bid process.

Therefore, by simply expanding the focus of their current marketing to learning about these missed opportunities, in advance, they can produce significant upside potential.

There are many methods, depending upon the type of business, that can be used to learn about more potential purchase opportunities. One of these, is to employ a Bird-Dog. That is, someone that is dedicated to learning about these opportunities in order to arm the sales representatives with both the precise timing of any upcoming purchase; and other information that will enable the sales rep to target their efforts on getting invited to the game and therefore bidding on far more jobs than they do today.

The Bird-Dog not only can uncover opportunities that otherwise would have been missed but they also can follow up on opportunities that are likely to come up over the next several months, year, or even within the next five years. The key is to know about the job opportunity and the timing in order to create a strategic and tactical plan for ensuring that your company is one of the companies that is asked to evaluate and potentially bid on the job.

In order to determine if a Bird-Dog, whether full-time or part-time, make sense for you, simply ask yourself these questions:

Based on our current marketing efforts, is it highly likely that we will we NOT know about at least 15% of the potential qualified opportunities for our business?
Would knowing about an additional 5 to 10% of the potential opportunities produce added margin that would more than cover the cost of a Bird-Dog multiple times over?

If the answer is yes to these two questions, then a Bird-Dog may be just the thing for your business.

I will cover more ways to increase your exposure to YOUR target prospects in coming issues.

How to Add 10-15 Hours a Week

Scott Hallman — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:54:46 +0000

This week I want to switch from OPTIMIZING the steps in your Marketing-Sales-Client Value processes to PRODUCTIVITY.

I just interviewed Dave Crenshaw, author of “The Myth of Multitasking” and “Invaluable” (www.DaveCrenshaw.com). During this power-packed one hour, Dave exploded the myth that multi-tasking is a good thing and took us through a really cool exercise to show it zaps productivity as much as 50%… not just for you the business owner but for EVERY employee as well.

He also showed ways to increase your productivity by 10-15 hours a week… that is equivalent to 12-25 work weeks per year!

www.SmallBusinessGrowthClub.com members will get full access to the interview but for the rest of you, I want to pass on a few gifts Dave provided in this interview.

First, here are four areas Dave guided us through to becoming more efficient and effective:

Set Boundaries on your time – Dave turns off his cell phone and email at 5pm every day and on weekends. This forces him to be more productive in the time allotted.
==> ACTION – Set ONE boundary that will free up quality time for you
Create Personal Systems – if you are multitasking so will everyone in the company. First work on your habits and set the example.
==> ACTION – Check emails twice a day…not whenever the bell rings!
Utilize State of the Art Technology – Not expensive… just up to date. Having a slow computer can add 2% to your time…Not much you say? Well, that equates to ONE WEEK a year!
==> ACTION – Check emails twice a day… not whenever the bell rings!
Upgrade Your Business Systems – if you are interrupted all the time and it seems like constant fires, then you have a “system” issue. One tactic Dave teaches is to create scheduled one on one meetings. One client gained 30% of their time with this one technique alone.
==> ACTION – Identify ONE frequent reason you are interrupted and look for simple ways to reduce these interruptions.

Take ONE action on these this week and start the journey to ultra productivity and time freedom.

Dave’s other gift… go to www.DaveCrenshaw.com/exercise to see how much Multitasking is slowing you down… takes less than 2 minutes.

To Your Success,

Scott

Perception Versus Reality

Scott Hallman — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:15:40 +0000

A $1M+ Lesson

Do your customers really value you at the level they should? If not, you will fail to retain them as long as you should; fail to maximize the frequency of their purchases; fail to get them to buy more of your other products and services; and fail to get the referrals you deserve…and of course, miss out on tons of profit.

Several years ago, after investing several hundred thousand in our landscaping, we were on our third gardener and I was once again less than satisfied and wanted to replace this gardener. Said another way, I PERCEIVED that the gardener was not doing a great job and that I was paying for hours where little was getting done.

One day I came home and the gardener was out in our front yard. He waved at me to come over by him. He proceeded to walk me around the yard and show me some of the extra things he was doing in order for my yard to be perfectly groomed. He showed me how he had trimmed my ornamental trees so that they would grow into perfect specimens.

After he finished sharing with me all that he had done, I quickly realized that my PERCEPTION was not in fact REALITY. And in just a few moments the gardener went from getting a grade C, and on the verge of being replaced, to getting a grade A and being irreplaceable.

Are you doing a good job ensuring that your customers perceive your products and services at the highest level?

If not, evaluate ways that you can help them to see the advantages you provide clearly. It can be as easy as sharing outcomes with them on occasion.

A dental newsletter client saw reorders and longevity skyrocket when they simply shared the number of leads that were generated from the newsletter and the lifetime value those patients represented. You see, the dentist PERCEIVED that they were getting few leads and PERCEIVED the value of these new patients was only the $70 initial visit fee. In contrast, the REALITY is they were getting far more leads and these patients expected lifetime value was over $6,000!

Take action on this tip and profit.

Downsell for Profits

Scott Hallman — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:32:36 +0000

How To Instantly Increase Your Sales Conversion Rate and Add $25,000-100,000+ To Your Profits by Changing One Tiny (no cost) Step in Your Sales Process What is “Downselling”? Many of you now utilize the point of purchase maximization technique of upselling (and I trust optimizing the results with what I shared with you in a past Tuesday Profit Tip). To make sure we are on the same page, upselling involved offering an additional item to the primary purchase to increase the overall price of the transaction. In contrast, downselling is where you offer an alternative to the primary purchase to decrease the overall transaction price. Why would you ever do that? Well we teach several applications of this strategy but for this brief tip I am going to focus on the application of “Increasing Sales Conversion”. If you are losing out on potential clients because they cannot afford (or chose not to) your product or service, even though they want what you provide, downselling provides a simple way to “give them what they want” and convert them into profits instantly. This strategy applies to most businesses and can be profound for many. When I taught Chet Holmes this concept, he said it was one of the most impactful things he ever implemented in his company. Essentially, downselling is where you offer the prospect a lower cost alternative. This may be a smaller quantity package or a lower quality item, or even a first time buyer “special purchase” opportunity. The goal is to win the customer so you gain the opportunity to do business with them in the future as well. Downselling Leverages What You Already Provide Downselling can be amazingly simple if you simply utilize the exact products and services you already offer to create the lower priced item. If you are a health club and trying to sell a prospect on a Gold Membership that includes a one year membership, an obvious downsell is a 90 day “trial” Membership. You win a customer and a chance to convert them to a regular member. Taking this a step further, you could have a second downsell to a 30 day membership…and finally to a one week membership.

Real World Example #1* An Instant Increase in Sales Conversion of over 125%

At my company, Business Growth Dynamics, we recently implemented a new downsell program in our coaching division. So we simply created a series of lower cost ways they could benefit from our coaching services and training. Our sales conversion rate increased by 125% in the first month. These are clients that would have never purchased coaching services at our standard one-on-one rates. But, and this is critical, they wanted and needed the service!! Real World Example #2* Marketing Systems Training Company adds $10,000 a month in Profit I recently spoke with the CEO of an international Marketing System Training company that said he heard my interview with my friend Eben Pagan and was intrigued at the concept of upselling… So I gave him some distinctions and helped him immediately create a downsell strategy – two training programs priced below their current lowest priced one. We quickly determined it was at least a $10,000 per month profit stream (based on past lost prospects that would have purchased) … and the CEO said that he expects it to grow to over $50,000 a month in profit! The great thing is that it includes the exact same services that they already provide, just stripped down versions. So it required little effort to put it into practice. Real World Example #3* $96,000 a year in profit while helping people – How cool is that? A healthcare provider immediately added $2,000 a week to their profits when they learned the detailed implementation systems we teach in our 30 minute “Downsell Workshop”. The strategy is totally proprietary so I am not allowed to reveal the details, except to say that there are 200 patients a year getting the help they need due to this creative downsell solution. And 50% of those that were offered the lower priced alternative are accepting the offer. Profit Action Steps Ok, let’s get you ringing the cash register. Select any product or service you offer and create a simple downsell that you can offer to prospects that do not purchase your standard product or service. Remember, it can be a lower quantity, quality, include fewer bells and whistles or even be a one time deal.

As with every strategy I share with you, Downselling for Profits costs virtually zero to create and test. So go for it and ProfitNOW™.

Is Your Compelling Offer Actually Alienating Your Prospects?

Scott Hallman — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:10:52 +0000

When the government was offering its highly touted “cash for clunkers program,” I heard a commercial on the radio for an auto dealership that really brought home a major problem I see small business owners making every day. The car dealer was berating the governments program… saying that by the time the majority of people got qualified and completed the mountain of paperwork needed to complete the transaction, the money allocated for the program would be gone. The dealer then went on to proclaim that any customer buying from them didn’t need to worry about this situation at their dealership. Instead, they would instantly discount all of their new cars by the same amount the government was offering, so come on in and buy from us today… no hassle, no problems, simple and easy. Yeah right… if ONLY! Is there anyone remotely alive today that actually believes this garbage? Now granted, this dealer isn’t lying… they will indeed give you the same amount the government is promising… but the way they do it is to discount the car that amount from the “sticker price,” which we all know is already over-inflated by close to that exact same amount they’re offering. Unfortunately, most people show up expecting this wonderful discount and then realize they are more or less being exposed to a “bait and switch” routine. Ahhh, the auto industry. Is it any wonder why most people would rather go to the dentist for a root canal than visit a dealer showroom? Are You Making This Same Mistake? My point is this. Are you doing something similar in your business… perhaps without even realizing it? Do you promise your customers excellent customer service? Most businesses do, don’t they? And then when you try to call them, you get a nightmare handed to you as you try to navigate through a maze of voicemail messages that never mention the problem you’re calling in with… and never allows you the option of speaking to a live human being. Excellent customer service??? What about your offers? Every business, no matter what you sell, should have at least one compelling offer. So what are many businesses using to entice prospects to “give them a try?” They offer them a 30 day “free trial for $1.” This allows them to capture your credit card number and billing information. Then at the end of the free trial, they will “automatically” provide you with their product or service on a monthly basis, and charge your credit card automatically so there’s “no hassle” for you whatsoever. And of course, you can “cancel” anytime between enrolling and the thirty day trial period. That’s a very compelling offer for someone truly interested and qualified in buying what you sell. Unqualified prospects (those who either don’t really want you sell, or can’t afford what you sell) will never take you up on this type of offer. Even for a buck, they simply won’t take their time knowing they aren’t really interested. Good! That’s what this type of offer is designed to do… “pre-qualify” a serious prospect and eliminate the unqualified ones so they don’t eat up your precious time, energy and effort. So what’s the problem with this type of offer? Nothing, except for one thing. How many of these offers have you personally subscribed to lately? If you have, did you ever try to “cancel” your trial before the thirty days expired? Good luck! Many of these types of offers become your worst nightmare when you try to “opt out” of the service. They either make it next to impossible to locate the proper way to unsubscribe by “hiding” it on a landing page smothered in articles and information (think fine print)… or they require you to complete pages of paperwork before they accept the cancellation. Although these unscrupulous practices are now starting to diminish, the reason for that involves the fact that so many “web shoppers” have had this happen to them, so they no longer subscribe to these types of offers. If you’re using this type of offer for your business, now you know why your “opt in rate” is lower month to month, and will probably continue to decline in the future. Look over your business processes carefully and see if you spot any deficiencies that may be creating a roadblock stopping your customers from buying what you sell… or interacting with your business in an enjoyable way. In today’s economy, it can mean the difference between surviving… and thriving.

The Power Of Persuasion

Scott Hallman — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:41:27 +0000

How to Keep Your Customers From Experiencing Purchase Paralysis

Throughout all of my training content, I constantly remind business owners of the importance of “risk reversal.” In today’s marketing saturated world (along with a global economy), when a prospect first makes contact with you and your business, they don’t know you, like you or trust you. Even after they get comfortable buying what you sell, they still won’t take action unless they feel that all risk has been removed from their buying experience. It’s your job as the business owner to make sure you alleviate all possible fears and take the risk completely out of their buying equation. Consider this example. Have you ever been so scared you couldn’t move? It’s a common reaction to a really scary situation. We know we’re in trouble. We know we need to move. But we can’t seem to convince ourselves, so we do nothing. Think about the people who make a living helping others out of tight spots. Firefighters, for example, are trained in how to get in to dangerous situations and persuade the immobilized person that moving is a really good idea. Now consider “how” they do it. The firefighter quickly establishes trust, speaks firmly with authority and gives extremely clear and specific instructions. These persuasion strategies are the same as those used in persuading your prospects to buy from you. You must do the exact same thing in your marketing copy. Making a decision about whether or not to buy a product or service is far less scary than being trapped in a burning building, but there are surprising similarities. Your ideal customer might do what you want them to do, but not without some waffling. They hesitate before clicking the Buy button … because they’re often paralyzed by fear. So break out the tools of persuasion to help them out. Unfortunately, the vast majority of business owners attempt to use information to accomplish that task. Information is not persuasive. Imagine you’re trapped in a burning building. Now imagine I come over and simply tell you a few logical reasons you should move.

Fire is dangerous.

The human body has not evolved to withstand the ambient temperatures inside a burning building.

The fumes being produced are highly unhealthy.

The building’s structure is likely to become unsound, which creates additional dangers.

Those are all very good reasons to move. This is valuable information. But it doesn’t help you get out of that fear-based paralysis. Information alone isn’t enough. Persuasion isn’t about information or the facts. Very often, we already know the facts. Think about this for a moment. How many times have you gone online, found something you really wanted, went completely through the entire “order process” but just couldn’t bring yourself to click on that final “complete transaction” button? We have ALL done it. Persuasion is about recognizing that the prospect’s fears are valid, and then allaying those fears completely and unequivocally. It’s about saying, “Yeah, I know you’re in trouble and so scared you don’t know what to do, but if you listen to me, I can help.” It’s about getting rid of the fear. Why is your prospect afraid? Figuring out what scares them is the business owner’s first job. It’s (probably) not burning-building fear, but your prospects do have “buying fears.” Maybe they’re afraid your product or service won’t solve their problem. Maybe they’re afraid they’re going to throw their hard-earned money away (again). Maybe they’re afraid they won’t ever use your solution. And the big one… they’re scared to look foolish… to themselves and their spouse or associates. Your job as the business owner is to speak to those fears. In a burning building, you’re scared of moving because being burned hurts like heck. You can’t breathe and you might die. Those are your current fears. They’re big and they’re valid, and someone giving you factual data about fires won’t compel you to move. But if the firefighter starts talking to you in a calm, authoritative voice that convinces you they actually have a way out of this situation, you’re going to listen up. You’re ready to hear them say something that makes the whole situation much less scary. They’ll probably give you some very specific instructions. You’re going to take just two steps forward, and I’m going to take your hand. Then I’m going to guide you out of here. Don’t focus on what’s going on around you. Just take my hand. You can tell they’re a professional and that he’s done this before. You instantly know that if you just stick with them and follow their clear instructions, you’re going to be all right. Sound familiar? Now it’s your turn. Help your prospects move beyond purchase paralysis. This MUST make up the core message for every piece of persuasive marketing you develop for your business. You want to convey to every prospect the following message… “Hey, I know you’re afraid of buying this product or service because of (specific reasons). But you know what? It’s going to be okay. I’ve been where you are now, and I know the way out of here. So just take my hand, click on the button that says Add to Cart, and in just a moment you’ll have the solution that makes it all okay. Click the button and let’s get you out of this mess, okay? “Let’s get you out of this mess,” is the simple and satisfying underlying message. Here are the steps:

A specific self-serving benefit headline (and sub-headline) or first paragraph.
The specific benefits and outcome they will receive from using your product or service * Product or service benefits and features.
The reason they should purchase the item and why from you.
The specific actions you will take (including price and terms).
The specific action they are to take.
A Bonus or Compelling Incentive, if any, to motivate action.
How you will minimize or eliminate their risk.
PS – the headline for the headline – the key elements of your offer.

One element of Persuasion is about saying: stick with me, kid. We’ll get you to the solution, safe and sound. Most people are just waiting to be persuaded that they have nothing to fear. Great business owners help them make that final leap of faith Once you master persuasion marketing, you will have the unprecedented ability to attract more clients… attract them with greater frequency… at a lower cost… and with total and complete confidence and certainty. That’s the power of persuasion. This is the critical information we teach our clients every day. If you’re ready to learn more about this powerful process, or just need help building your business, visit us at www.smallbusinessgrowthclub.com.

Is Your Compelling Offer Actually Alienating Your Prospects?

Scott Hallman — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:13:52 +0000

Last year when the government was offering its highly touted “cash for clunkers program,” I heard a commercial on the radio for an auto dealership that really brought home a major problem I see small business owners making every day. The car dealer was berating the governments program… saying that by the time the majority of people got qualified and completed the mountain of paperwork needed to complete the transaction, the money allocated for the program would be gone. The dealer then went on to proclaim that any customer buying from them didn’t need to worry about this situation at their dealership. Instead, they would instantly discount all of their new cars by the same amount the government was offering, so come on in and buy from us today… no hassle, no problems, simple and easy. Yeah right… if ONLY! Is there anyone remotely alive today that actually believes this garbage? Now granted, this dealer isn’t lying… they will indeed give you the same amount the government is promising… but the way they do it is to discount the car that amount from the “sticker price,” which we all know is already over-inflated by close to that exact same amount they’re offering. Unfortunately, most people show up expecting this wonderful discount and then realize they are more or less being exposed to a “bait and switch” routine. Ahhh, the auto industry. Is it any wonder why most people would rather go to the dentist for a root canal than visit a dealer showroom? Are You Making This Same Mistake? My point is this. Are you doing something similar in your business… perhaps without even realizing it? Do you promise your customers excellent customer service? Most businesses do, don’t they? And then when you try to call them, you get a nightmare handed to you as you try to navigate through a maze of voicemail messages that never mention the problem you’re calling in with… and never allows you the option of speaking to a live human being. Excellent customer service??? What about your offers? Every business no matter what you sell should have at least one compelling offer. So what are many businesses using to entice prospects to “give them a try?” They offer them a 30 day “free trial for $1.” This allows them to capture your credit card number and billing information. Then at the end of the free trial, they will “automatically” provide you with their product or service on a monthly basis, and charge your credit card automatically so there’s “no hassle” for you whatsoever. And of course, you can “cancel” anytime between enrolling and the thirty day trial period. That’s a very compelling offer for someone truly interested and qualified in buying what you sell. Unqualified prospects (those who either don’t really want you sell, or can’t afford what you sell) will never take you up on this type of offer. Even for a buck, they simply won’t take their time knowing they aren’t really interested. Good! That’s what this type of offer is designed to do… “pre-qualify” a serious prospect and eliminate the unqualified ones so they don’t eat up your precious time, energy and effort. So what’s the problem with this type of offer? Nothing, except for one thing. How many of these offers have you personally subscribed to lately? If you have, did you ever try to “cancel” your trial before the thirty days expired? Good luck! Many of these types of offers become your worst nightmare when you try to “opt out” of the service. They either make it next to impossible to locate the proper way to unsubscribe by “hiding” it on a landing page smothered in articles and information (think fine print)… or they require you to complete pages of paperwork before they accept the cancellation. Although these unscrupulous practices are now starting to diminish, the reason for that involves the fact that so many “web shoppers” have had this happen to them, so they no longer subscribe to these types of offers. If you’re using this type of offer for your business, now you know why your “opt in rate” is lower month to month, and will probably continue to decline in the future. Look over your business processes carefully and see if you spot any deficiencies that may be creating a roadblock stopping your customers from buying what you sell… or interacting with your business in an enjoyable way. In today’s economy, it can mean the difference between surviving… and thriving.

Do You Have a “Compelling Competitive Advantage” Over Your Competitors?

Scott Hallman — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:39:05 +0000

How to Survive (and Thrive) in a Wal-Mart Dominated World. With Wal-Mart, Costco and several national chains now getting into traditional small business services, the need to create a strong competitive niche is greater than ever. And I am not just talking about a new business that wants to decide how they should be positioned to effectively compete. EVERY business must continuously modify their positioning to remain competitive in this turbo-rapidly changing business environment. In coaching clients in over 200 industries around the world, here are the six situations I find companies in on a regular basis & which defines you best? Leverage Off Current Compelling Advantages — these are successful businesses that are going slower than desired and/or facing pricing pressures and have an opportunity to greatly increase their business, and potentially own their industry, with the proper repositioning based on what benefits they already provide to clients. Maxed Out — these are businesses that are primarily one-person shows that must step back and determine how they take their business to the next level. If the success of the business relies just on their talents, they are going to have a tough road to pave. Need to Reinvent the Business — these are businesses that either are in an industry where profits have eroded or worse, their product or service has become obsolete. Did I hear “China”? or yes, Wal-Mart? No Established Industry Need — these are businesses that are struggling to sell to an industry that doesn’t perceive the need for, and therefore the value, of the product or service. One could say “ethanol (corn fuel) was there before the rise in oil and the big push to become “green”. Commodity Business — these are businesses that are in commodity type industries where everybody appears the same and price becomes the main competing method. Unfortunately, there is always some “ignorant” competitor that sells at non-sustainable margins & until they go under (often taking good companies with them). Communicating Your Message — these are companies with strong products or services that are unique but the message needs to be repackaged so the target audience perceives the value. Each of these requires that the business first reevaluate their positioning in the market and then build a systematic marketing/sales process to communicate this message effectively, and a supporting business structure to ensure that they can deliver on the new promise. Know where your business is perceived to be in the market. If you are struggling with selling your product or service, finding your Compelling Competitive Advantage” is the first place to start. It’s ALL about implementation! So focus on your Compelling Competitive Advantages and prosper.